The Music Factory (TMF) is a pop music television channel that operates in Belgium (TMF Vlaanderen).

TMF previously operated channels in the Netherlands (TMF Nederland) (where it started), the UK with TMF UK and Australia with (TMF Australia). The brand is owned by MTV Networks International (part of the Viacom conglomerate). It Shows only pop videos and locally produced live programming in Belgium and likewise with TMF Netherlands before its closure, the British TMF aired some of MTV's and VH1's programmes like Cribs, Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, Hogan Knows Best and Run's House.

TMF Nederland was launched on 1 May 1995 as the only local pop station in the Netherlands. It was founded by Lex Harding and the Arcade company. The station gradually began to get better viewer figures than MTV,^{[citation needed]} so in 2002, MTV bought shares in TMF. In 1996, TMF started the TMF Awards in the Netherlands. It is headquartered in Bussum.

The channel was very well known in the Netherlands and throughout some of Europe for its emphasis on dance music mixes. It was, however, perhaps infamous for the former over-abundance of "text-in" shows (displaying large panels in the bottom third of the screen filled with text messages that obscure the main image). In 2005, three new channels began broadcasting in the Netherlands under the TMF brand (all owned by MTV Networks Europe):

The Music was an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the release of their debut album, The Music, in 2002. The band released two further studio albums, Welcome to the North (2004) and Strength in Numbers (2008), before parting ways in 2011.

The Music all met at Brigshaw High School except Phil Jordan who went to Garforth and began playing in 1999 as Insense. In 2001 the song Take the Long Road and Walk It circulated as a demo before being released by Fierce Panda as a 1000-copies-only single, a rarity from its day of release. Around this time the NME and Steve Lamacq were describing them as the best unsigned band in Britain. The band were quickly signed by Hut, who released their first EP You Might as Well Try to Fuck Me.

In 2002, following another EP (The People) they released their eponymous début album which reached #4 in the UK album charts. Their début single was re-issued as part of a two-disc set to promote the album, and reached #14 in the singles chart. Two further singles from the album, Getaway and The Truth is No Words reached #26 and #18 respectively. June 2003 saw them filling in for an absent Zwan on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival.

Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American pop singer and dancer who gained extensive media attention with the 2011 single "Friday". Her mother paid $4,000 to have the single and an accompanying music video put out as a vanity release through the record label ARK Music Factory. The song was co-written and produced by Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson of Ark Music Factory. After the video went viral on YouTube and other social media sites, "Friday" was derided by many music critics and viewers, who dubbed it "the worst song ever." The music video received around 167 million views, causing Black to gain international attention as a "viral star", before being removed from the site on June 16. Black re-uploaded it in her own channel three months later.

Rebecca Black was born on June 21, 1997, in Irvine, California. She is the daughter of John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians. She is of Mexican, Spanish, Italian, English, and Polish descent. An honor student, Black studied dance, auditioned for school shows, attended music summer camps, and began singing publicly in 2008 after joining the patriotic group Celebration USA.^{[citation needed]} In 2011 Black left public school in favor of homeschooling, both in response to constant verbal bullying at school and in order to focus more of her time on her career. Black later said that her main reason for the move to homeschooling was more for career reasons rather than the bullying.